Photo: Popkrazy
I know that I haven’t updated this blog in months. Without taking time to get into a lengthy explanation as to why, the death of Michael Jackson has given me a reason to update. While I don’t know what the future of Loudersoft is right now, it was important to me to share this with you now.
It has taken me days to sit down and write these thoughts to share with you, and I still don’t even know where to begin. I expect any number of you who read this to simply not understand where my mind is. He meant something different to nearly everyone, no matter what part or parts of his life you’ve been affected by or how.
I have laid awake nights thinking to myself how beautiful heaven must be today now that Michael’s pain is at an end. Those of us here on Earth, we are left to consider the many gifts Michael bestowed upon the world, and, in spite of his eccentric and at times inexplicable behavior, how insensitively the media treated him throughout the last years of his life.
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Two of my favorite talents in the extensive world of music remain the illustrious DJ Day and Kansas City’s #1 soul brother, soul singer and virtuoso Miles Bonny. DJ Day, whom I have written extensive praises of, wrote on his own blog, Like A Throttle, about how he came to generate this genuinely soul-stirring rendition of “Still Ray” by Raphael Saadiq.
I came home and listened to it, figured out the piano part and played everything else from there. Once I was finished I called my man Miles Bonny to lay down vocals and trumpet like only he can and here it is, free for you.
Word is this may yet still come out on vinyl, but it’s way too good to let collect dust. Enjoy this track and let it fill you with the essence. Keep up with DJ Day over at Like A Throttle.
DJ Day & Miles Bonny - “Still Ray”
Details of the contest, tour dates, and a sweet MP3 after the jump!
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Amidst the frenzy drummed up from their on-stage collabos with Wu Tang impresario GZA at SXSW earlier this month, The Black Lips have premiered a brand new video for “I’ll Be With You,” another standout from their latest Vice Records offering, 200 Million Thousand. Premiered last week on MTV2’s Subterranean, you can currently catch footage from the show and some extras over at their blog. Need more? There’s the Bandstand Busking performance of the song from the Lips’ stop in London earlier this year. Tired of visuals? MP3 is available after the jump.
There was a psychedelic re-awakening of sorts in the late 1980’s, due in part to the pervasive cultural trend towards retrospective of the late-1960’s “Summer of Love”. In the midst of this, there appeared the psych-pop of The Dukes of Stratosphear. The Dukes were a spin-off of the much-loved British pop/punk act XTC, whom many consider the most important British rock act of the 1980’s. Though they worked feverishly to cloak themselves in anonymous monikers and lack of fanfare for the release of their first EP, 25 O’Clock,
The Dukes of Stratosphear went on to release the full-length Psonic Psunspot
Though they’ve been out of print for some time, they’ve returned for a visit. Nearly twenty years later, Andy Partridge’s very own APE Label has reissued these beloved psych-pop albums, proving they’re just as bright and inviting today as they were tongue-in-cheek vogue during the “Summer of Love” renaissance 20 years ago. Enjoy these two tracks from the release.
The Dukes of Stratosphear - Brainiac’s Daughter
The Dukes of Stratosphear - My Love Explodes
* This LIMITED EDITION packaged CD comes in a HARDBACK digibook featuring brand new artwork and the booklet includes new sleeves notes by Andy, Colin and Dave Gregory and exclusive archive photos.
* Includes 9 extra tracks of demos and extra recordings including “Black Jewelled Serpent of Sound{Radio Caroline edit}”, “Open a Can of Human Beans”, “Tin Toy Clockwork Train”, and the VIDEO for “MOLE FROM THE MINISTRY”.
I laid there turning green with envy, comfortable, if angry, in my bed about 45 minutes before the bus left from Memphis to head to the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, TX. On the bus, generously sponsored by the Memphis Music Foundation, was a collection of musicians that read like a who’s-who of Memphis music and its rich history. Names like The Bar-Kays, Harlan T. Bobo, Jack O. and the Tennessee Tearjerkers, River City Tanlines, Jump Back Jake, and Two Way Radio were loading their gear into the bus, many of them wide-eyed with the possibility of performing before an actively excited crowd of clamoring music fans. Some of those fans, as they were, would likely be booking agents, promoters, managers, record label executives, members of the media, and representatives of other entities big and small from around the globe.
I had been planning on going for months. However, when a work-related opportunity went by the wayside (which would have taken me to SXSW), I chose to sit on the sidelines, not to incur any further debt, and to stay home and do some work. I knew that if I went to SXSW, I wouldn’t really be able to afford to do it the way I normally would, that it would inevitably be a struggle to simply get around and see all the people I wanted to.
And with this picture in my mind, in spite of my insistence that I would not attend SXSW this year, I suddenly hopped up, packed my bag full of dirty laundry, put my laptop in a bag, got into my car and hauled ass downtown to catch the bus.
I’m glad I did, but not for the reasons which might at first seem obvious to you. This trip tested the mettle of relationships and friendships, demonstrated the true colors of people whom I have long considered friends, revealed the ugliness of other people’s self-involvement, tested certain of my physical limitations, and allowed me to see what SXSW Music has really become: formerly a festival geared to the industry, the conference is now aimed directly at certain kind of music consumer.
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I promise, they coming. Here’s me with a bear at the Hot Freaks showcase on Friday last.
Tonight is the Loudersoft + Funke edition of Putting In Work at Dish. We’re going to be tearing through everything we can find that makes you dance — anthems, jams, classics, breaks, disco, whatever we got. There’s no cover at Dish tonight, the kitchen is open till 11pm, and the music goes from 10pm until 3am. If you’re in Memphis, head to 948 S. Cooper (corner of Cooper & Young). You’re gonna dance. I promise you will.
LETS GO!
You already know how much I love the new O+S record. I’m thrilled to offer you a second song from the album, one that I think will give you an even better window into their sonic diversity. “Permanent Scar” is the first single from the self-titled album, and I hope you’ll dig it as much as I have been.
You can purchase o+s from Amazon by clicking here.
Perennial Loudersoft favorite (and Israeli soul brother extraordinaire) Kutiman has changed the game up inna massive style with http://thru-you.com — wherein he takes pieces of videos from YouTube and remixes them. He completely re-arranges them to make new songs, much like the late great J. Dilla was known to do, except (unlike other Dilla copy-catters) Kutiman’s ingenious idea to use YouTube footage is solidly game-changing. Others may have attempted something like this, but I certainly haven’t seen it done with this depth or this well.
Get there and check this out. It’s seriously amazing. http://thru-you.com
The band Casxio come from Los Angeles and are being hailed as “a little bit more than just the latest band to jump into the dance-music pool” by the LA Times.
That’s high praise coming from a city which was once fueled by the disco it helped to create. Enjoy this track, “Seventeen”, then go check them out at SXSW (where they have several appearances).
Casxio will be appearing March 18, 19, 20 & 21st at SXSW. Check schedule for times/details.
THURSDAY 09th April 2009
ADVENTURES IN THE BEETROOT FIELD — FABRIC LONDON
ROOM ONE:
ROOM ONE: ADVENTURES IN THE BEETROOT FIELD…
Simian Mobile Disco (DJ Set), Foals (DJ Set), Apes & Androids (LIVE), Ebony Bones (LIVE), The Joy Formidable (LIVE), Chew Lips (LIVE), Facing New York (LIVE), The Invisible (LIVE), Acid Girls DJs, Crispin Dior (DJ Set), Young & Lost DJs
ROOM TWO:
ADVENTURES IN THE BEETROOT FIELD & NO PAIN IN POP…
Mogwai (DJ Set), Hudson Mohawke (DJ Set), Michachu & The Shapes (LIVE), BLK JKS (LIVE), Diagonal (LIVE), Gentle Friendly (LIVE), Stopmakingme! (DJ Set), No Pain In Pop DJs
ROOM THREE:
BLOGGER’S DELIGHT…
Noob, Zombie Disco Squad, Skull Juice, Casper C
More Info After The Jump — MORE »
There’s a tricky dissonance that wafts through the undercurrent of the most beautiful recordings I’ve listened to in my life. It’s the unexpected collaborations or spellbinding accidents of circumstance that unite elements into original flavors. The illogical syllogisms in music are the ones that surprisingly seem to work the best. Such is the case of O+S, whose self-titled debut will be released via Saddle Creek Records on March 24th.
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